Breaking Bedrock: A Psychological Thriller | Book 2 | The Bedrock Series (Ebook)

Chapter One

This is a story about truth, to be sure. Who’s truth, well, that’s for you to decide. More than that, it’s about good versus evil; it’s about winning and losing. It’s about the darkness that lives inside each of us. However, strip it all down and you’ll find underneath, it’s a love story. But then, really, aren’t they all? 

It is my belief that love is mostly about showing up. It’s about showing up in the good times and especially in the bad. It’s about being there, and continuing to be there, particularly when the going gets tough. Because that’s the thing about love, isn’t it? The going always gets tough. But, if you can manage to dig your heels in, day in and day out, no matter what life brings, I think you’ll find that you might just come out on top. In time, you might come to find that while love and what you thought you knew of it, may in fact, look very different than you’d imagined, it’s there nonetheless. Even when it’s dark and unpredictable. I find, all the best things are. 

* * *

Addison Greyer pulled the sweatshirt over her head, stuffed her keys and phone in the pocket, grabbed her pepper spray and headed out for the run she so desperately needed. It was a cold, dreary morning, the kind where the cold settles in your bones until it hurts. Gripping the pepper spray tightly, she rounded her driveway, taking off in full sprint, pushing herself harder and faster than she had in some time. Although her eyes stung and her lungs burned, Addison knew better than to give in. She knew better than to stop. Not today. Today there was no stopping. Today was about pushing through the pain, today was about getting to the other side, only to find there is no other side. It didn’t matter. Today she would run and run and run until she couldn’t. 

She would run and she would let her mind drift back and forth over the past few months as though searching for a clue, any tiny shred of evidence that may have simply been overlooked. She’d played out this scenario hundreds of times, hoping that she could find something she’d overlooked, a missing piece that if found, would make everything clear. She needed to run. But, she also needed things to make sense.

It wasn’t unusual that William Hartman weighed heavily on Addison’s mind, and today was certainly no different. Unfortunately, the situation had become significantly worse over the past twenty-four hours, and no matter what she did or how she tried to keep herself busy, she couldn’t stop her thoughts from returning to the letter. Her mind replayed the words over and over. She’d memorized them. They’d etched their way into her soul, just like the cold weighed on her bones, only worse. She recalled now, her breath heaving against the cold, how she’d traced her finger around the smooth edges of her finest stationery and then carefully tucked it in the envelope. She’d taken the letter out again just to run her fingers over it one last time as though maybe, just maybe, she could tuck a little bit of herself in with it. She closed her eyes and silently prayed that the letter’s recipient might feel her, that forgiveness might be nestled between the lines.  She even entertained the idea that if she were to concentrate hard enough, perhaps she might undo what she’d done—how quickly she’d emailed the courier and scheduled for a pick-up before calling to cancel, only to finally call back and schedule once more.

Still, no matter how her heart struggled against what she’d done, her mind knew it was the right thing to do. Addison hadn’t been able to forgive herself after what would be forever dubbed “the disastrous Christmas-tree event.” It had been that night as she pressed her head to the smooth cold tile of her bathroom floor, tears streaming silently down her face, that she finally understood what it was she needed to do. It was time she let him go, once and for all. She wasn’t good for him. He wasn’t good for her. At least not in any of the ways that mattered, when it came right down to it. That much was clear. Asking him to wait for her wasn’t fair. Asking him to be something he wasn’t would never work. Her life was a complete and utter mess. There wasn’t room for anything else, certainly not love and all of its glorious chaos.

For starters, Scott Hammons, the man who had kidnapped and tortured her, had been arraigned, pleading not guilty, and was out on bail. He’d somehow managed to retain counsel who was able to convince a judge to allow him a pre-trial release after agreeing to a strict no-contact order, 24/7 electronic monitoring, and of course, after having posted a hefty amount of bail money. None of that mattered to Addison. No restraining order and certainly no ankle bracelet was enough to make her feel safe. She’d seen what Scott Hammons was capable of, not to mention the look in his eye at the arraignment, full of contempt. She knew he wasn’t finished with her, not by a long shot. But if that weren’t enough, her husband was blackmailing her to stay in a marriage that they both knew deep down, whether he wanted to admit it or not, was broken beyond repair.

Suffice it to say, not only was her life in turmoil but it was certainly no place to let love walk in. The next few months would be precarious, at least until the preliminary hearing, and quite frankly, Addison realized, there was no room for anything more than survival. Given the thoughts of Scott Hammons and what she might have to do to put an end to the situation, once and for all, Addison pushed herself harder. She embraced the cold, welcomed the pain, feeling each step as her feet pounded the payment. The faster she ran, the more the words she’d written played in her mind, words that would never, could never, be enough.

Panting hard and slightly dizzy, Addison was trying to recall whether or not she’d eaten anything that morning when a sudden movement up ahead caught her eye, causing her to stop abruptly in her tracks. After focusing in and realizing she recognized the car, Addison sighed and braced herself, knowing exactly what was waiting for her down the road.

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